BMW announces record sales in 2012, fueled by Spartanburg Co. plant

Three vehicles produced at the BMW's Spartanburg County plant - the X3, X5 and X6 - helped drive the company's U.S. sales to their best ever mark in 2012.

By TREVOR ANDERSONtrevor.anderson@shj.com

Spartanburg County-based BMW Manufacturing Co.'s more than 7,000 employees can raise a toast to themselves this New Year.Three vehicles produced at the German automaker's local plant - the X3, X5 and X6 - helped drive the company's U.S. sales to their best ever mark in 2012, BMW of North America reported Thursday.BMW sold 347,583 vehicles in this country last year, a nearly 14 percent increase from 305,418 in 2011. In December, the company sold 43,855 vehicles, a nearly 35 percent increase from 32,545 during the same month a year prior.“To turn months of critically short supply into the best year ever for the BMW Group in the U.S. is a monumental achievement, emphasizing what a customer-oriented dealer network with an agile logistics team can do,” Ludwig Willisch, president and CEO of BMW of North America, said in a statement. “The post-recession sales momentum that started in 2010 reached an unprecedented level in December, making us strongly confident and optimistic as we enter 2013.”A big part of that success, according to the company, was the outstanding performance of it Sport Activity Vehicle segment, which is almost exclusively produced in Spartanburg County.Sales of the X3 increased over 46 percent in December to 5,162 units, up from 3,532 during the same month of 2011. For the year, 35,173 X3's were delivered to customers, which was a nearly 27 percent increase compared to 27,793 a year earlier.X5 sales decreased almost 5 percent in December, but were up nearly 10 percent for the year to 44,445 units, compared to 40,547 in 2011.The company made solid gains in sales of its X6, with 1,039 units sold in December, a nearly 37 percent increase from the same month of the prior year. For 2012, X6 sales increased 9 percent to 6,749 units, compared to 6,192 in 2011.As a whole, BMW's SAV division saw a nearly 16 percent sales increase in December, and for the year. the segment accounted for about a quarter of the company's U.S. sales overall.“There's no question; we are extremely pleased with what Spartanburg is doing,” said Kenn Sparks, business communications manager for BMW of North America. “The Spartanburg-produced SAV's are some of our hottest-selling vehicles, not just in the U.S., but around the world.”BMW Manufacturing Co. started off 2012 with a bang by announcing a $900 million expansion in January.The plan included the addition of more than 1 million square feet of production space and the hiring of 1,000 full-time employees over the next three years, including 300 associates by the end of year.It also facilitated the production of a new vehicle model - the X4 - and ramped up the plant's total anticipated output to 350,000 vehicles by 2014, including increasing production from a record 276,000 vehicles last year to 300,000 this year.When the expansion wraps up, the plant will be more than 5 million square feet, employ 8,000 workers and represent a $6.3 billion investment in the Upstate.State and local leaders already have started moving forward with two infrastructure projects aimed at enhancing BMW's exports, as well as meeting the shipping needs of the state's other exporters.The first project is a $30 million inland port in Spartanburg County on property at the intersection of Highway 290 and the J. Verne Smith Parkway.Goods would be shipped between Greer and Charleston within a few hours along an existing Norfolk Southern rail line. Construction of the port is expected to be completed in 2013, officials said.The other project is the Port Authority's $2 billion improvement plan that includes deepening the Charleston port from 45 to 50 feet and other infrastructure improvements.For more information, visit www.bmwgroupna.com.